Senate Resolution 535--Designating March As ``National `Slam the Scam' Day'' to Raise Awareness About the Increasing Number of Government Imposter Scams, to Encourage the Implementation of Policies to Prevent Government Imposter Scams, and to Encourage the Improvement of Protections From Government Imposter Scams for the People of the United States

Floor Speech

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Mrs. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise to recognize today, March 5, as National ``Slam the Scam'' Day. I first want to thank my colleague from Arizona, Senator Sinema, for working with me on a Senate resolution designating today as National ``Slam the Scam'' Day. This resolution will help raise awareness of Government imposter scams with a single message: hang up and tell someone.

In Government imposter scams, criminals claim to be from Government agencies, such as the Social Security Administration, and call Americans demanding payment or personal information.

These scams look real because they often begin with an unsolicited robocall using a spoofed caller ID, showing the name of the Government agency they are pretending to be. In reality, the Government would never call to threaten you or demand payment using gift cards, cash, wire transfers, or internet cryptocurrency.

Government imposter scams have been the number one complaint reported to the Aging Committee's Fraud Hotline since its creation in 2013. Over the last two years, nearly 2,000 Maine consumers reported Government imposter scams to the Federal Trade Commission, with total losses of more than $700,000.

Last year, the top reported scam to the Fraud Hotline, which the Aging Committee featured in our first hearing of the year, was the Social Security Administration impersonation scam. Americans reported losing nearly $38 million to this scam in 2019 alone, according to the Federal Trade Commission. That undoubtedly is the tip of the iceberg.

Scammers are ruthlessly targeting Americans, and particularly older Americans, across the country. In 2016, Philip Hatch, an 81-year Navy veteran from Maine, lost $8,000 of his hard-earned savings to a Government impersonation scam. These scammers first posed as IRS agents and then impersonated the Portland Police Department.

Just last year, a Maine senior reported a call from someone claiming to work for the Social Security Administration. The caller told him that his Social Security number matched a credit card used to rent a car found on the Texas border filled with drugs and blood. The caller provided an FBI ID number and correctly identified when my constituent had recently visited Texas on business. When prompted by the scammer, he confirmed his date of birth and Social Security number.

These pernicious scams not only steal the savings of hardworking Americans and threaten to compromise their personal information; they also erode public trust and make it more difficult for Federal, State, and local government agencies to fulfill their missions.

The Aging Committee, which I chair, has held 25 hearings on scams over the past seven years, and we have examined Government imposter scams from a number of angles. Public awareness can help to stop these scams from the start.

I urge my colleagues to join me in marking today as National ``Slam the Scam'' Day by supporting our resolution. Let's work together to hang up on these Government imposters and put them out of business once and for all. Let's slam these scams.

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